Feet are killing me!!!!

[PFD42]

99.9% of everything I hunt is swamp so rubber boots is a must. I wear uninstalled grange and insulated burly pros. I recently bought some Danner vitals with good support that I strap to my pay and put on at the tree .
As far as leaning angle I’m dang bear standing. With tether height at my chest and a short 20” bridge my Ropeman is almost touching the looped girth of my tether.

 

[Peterk1234]

99.9% of everything I hunt is swamp so rubber boots is a must. I wear uninstalled grange and insulated burly pros. I recently bought some Danner vitals with good support that I strap to my pay and put on at the tree .
As far as leaning angle I’m dang bear standing. With tether height at my chest and a short 20” bridge my Ropeman is almost touching the looped girth of my tether.

I too use rubber boots, but I find the soles plenty stiff (Cabelas). Not sure if it helps or makes a difference but my tether is about as High as I can reach and the bridge is 32 inches. Now that I think about it; I have found that the higher my tether is, the less it tries to pull me in/down. I wonder if that helps my feet. It must. Never understood why most people like those short tethers. I would think it restricts movement and pulls. The tether and long bridge have never been in the way of my bow/draw.

 

[Bigterp]

@EricS & @Peterk1234 both bring up good points. At the end of the day comfort is all geometry, sounds like you’ve played the high/low tether game. Sounds like your health enough & prob not circulation. If you have a platform I don’t see any real functional difference between that & a stand unless you’re leaning far back on a long tether. I enjoy the ability to shift pressure throughout the hunt, but it should not be unbearable.

 

[drew13]

Plenty of good advice above. In addition, I would say that a quick and easy thing to try is to put a pair of Superfeet insoles in your boots - they are fairly rigid plastic and will add some stiffness to your boots to disperse the weight. Basically achieves the same thing a lot of the guys above are saying about using a stiff soled boot.

Superfeet work well for me when I use screw-ins, bolts or WE stepps for a platform.

 

[Weldabeast]

1. Get set up to the tree at ground level
2. Get into your sweet spot, comfort wise
3. Set an angle finder on either your chest or have someone put it on your back.
4. Record the angle of your upper torso
5. Now you'll know the angle your platform should be to get you the most comfort for you feet and ankles

 

[enkriss]

Try a ring of steps.

 

[EricS]

The lacrosse grange definitely suck. They are as close as you can get to condoms for your feet but don’t offer support. Other than boots start playing around with sitting more than leaning. Hearing how you hookup it sounds like you are fairly vertical so the platform being flat isn’t a big issue. I still say it’s 90 percent your boots and the fact with that shallow platform most of your weight is on the edge of your platform digging into the arch rather than your heel.

 

[EricS]

Try a ring of steps.

That’s mostly what I use but not with those grange boots.

 

[enkriss]

That’s mostly what I use but not with those grange boots.

I am not familiar with them. I wear Crispi summits early season then switch to Lacrosse aeroheads mid season and alpha burly 1600s late season.

 

[Weldabeast]

I know everyone different but..... I seriously don't understand the boot issues. I'd guess over 80% of my saddle sits have been in crocs and the other 20% are in thin rubber boots. The angle of the platform is the issue not your boots or tether etc IMO. I understand not everybody can make their own stuff and no commercial platform has tackled this issue....

 

[jbogg]

Before throwing in the towel on Saddle Hunting I would definitely give the JX 3 Hybrid a try. There is very little fiddle factor like you have with most traditional lightweight saddles. You don’t have to keep up with kneepads, micro adjusters, figuring out the proper bridge length… Heck, a lot of guys don’t even use a platform with it. I know a lot of guys are into accumulating a lot of gear, and there is nothing wrong with that. I come from the camp of keep it simple stupid. For 25 years I hunted with one rifle that I know extremely well. The JX 3 is as comfortable as my Summit Goliath. Granted I sit 90% of the time, but it is equally comfortable when leaning. I often see guys mention that purchasing another saddle is just another tool in their toolbox. I carried a toolbox for a few years and let me tell you a full toolbox gets heavy. Keep it simple. Try the JX 3, and you will not regret it.

 

[EricS]

I know everyone different but..... I seriously don't understand the boot issues. I'd guess over 80% of my saddle sits have been in crocs and the other 20% are in thin rubber boots. The angle of the platform is the issue not your boots or tether etc IMO. I understand not everybody can make their own stuff and no commercial platform has tackled this issue....

If you’ve wore grange boots you’ll know that crocs offer more support. Tethrd, OOAL, and LWCG all offer platforms that you can adjust the angle on so I’m not really sure what you mean there.

 

[Weldabeast]

If you’ve wore grange boots you’ll know that crocs offer more support. Tethrd, OOAL, and LWCG all offer platforms that you can adjust the angle on so I’m not really sure what you mean there.

They offer very limited adjustment.....I don't know how much. 15-20 degrees? Maybe less with just the bolt angle adjust? My platform is at 40+ degrees.....not commercial platform offers enough adjustment that I've seen.

 

[BTaylor]

I agree with the post above about trying the superfeet insoles. If you need high arch support then you will want the green's. If the arch support is too far back towards your heel to be comfortable, order a set of masterfit. The arch support is more forward on them. Worked great for me to stiffen up a pair of irish setter vaportreks.

 

[g2outdoors]

I hate that you're dealing with that. I only hunt from knee high rubber boots or hip waders (SE Georgia swamps). My feet never hurt. I've hunted all day sits and plenty of half day sits.

I feel for the guys that run into comfort issues. I think everyone's physiology is different and some people just struggle with comfort. I always HATED sitting in a lock on stand. My butt and back would hurt from 15 minutes after sitting down, to the end of the hunt. Then my knees would get locked up. Never had a single comfort issue in a climber. I don't have any comfort issues in a saddle either.

Sounds like you're doing all the right things to fix your feet. My normal response to that would be to try a platform, but sounds like you've already been down that road.

 

[Razorbak66]

Do you lock your knees when leaning..bend them slightly..boots are subjective i feel..some can handle hard soles and vice versa..i lean majority of the time but i shift every 15 minutes or so..granted im a newbie in the saddle world..havent found the sweet spot yet for sitting but i will

 

[Deerinthawoods]

Never had issues with my feet. I’ve hunted mostly with rubber lacrosse knee boots and hip boots. Early in the season I had a little hip pinch but fixed that by playing with tether height and lowering the waist belt a little. I go back and forth from leaning to sitting and favor sitting knees against the tree. I also feel like that helps stabilize the shot with that additional point of contact. I’ve only made 1 sit in a lock on this year and that was as a guest at another camp.

 

[PFD42]

Well I’m on my way to my lease for a little scout and hunt . I’ll try some of the advise I’ve received , not giving up yet . I’ll do what saddle guys do and keep throwing money at products until something works .

 

[heretic]

It's odd that your feet hurt while leaning in a saddle but not when you are standing in a loc-on. What kind of feet pain are you experiencing, or where is the pain occurring specifically? When you lean you say that the pressure of the platform is more on the arches of your feet. This may be out of left field but have you looked up the symptoms of plantar fasciitis? It can happen to runners, bigger fellas, and in shoes with poor support.

 

[PFD42]

As some have mentioned it’s a weight distribution issue not a saddle issue. I’ve had saddles and won’t call any of them bad , just feature preference.
I was dead set against being a sitter as I can do that in a stand. But , I’m gonna try it this evening.